{"id":3816,"date":"2026-01-20T00:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/20\/kieran-mckenna-ipswich-boss-says-gap-between-teams-too-small-in-championship-promotion-push-football-news\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T05:02:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:02:29","slug":"kieran-mckenna-ipswich-boss-says-gap-between-teams-too-small-in-championship-promotion-push-football-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/20\/kieran-mckenna-ipswich-boss-says-gap-between-teams-too-small-in-championship-promotion-push-football-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Kieran McKenna: Ipswich boss says ‘gap between teams too small’ in Championship promotion push | Football news"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A slow start to the season has set back the Championship’s top team, but progress at Ipswich Town has been disappointing in recent weeks. <\/p>\n

The Tractor Boys find themselves lurking in third place, trailing Middlesbrough by two points with a game in hand. They have won six of the last eight.<\/p>\n

Kieran McKenna, however, is embarrassed by his side’s progress and position.<\/p>\n

“To be honest, I wouldn’t call it a promotion race yet,” he said Sky Sports<\/em>. “A lot of teams are on the same score, and anybody can beat anybody on any weekend. The league is incredibly competitive.<\/p>\n

“We are focused on ourselves rather than worrying about other people. Consistency is difficult at this stage, and the gap between the teams is very small. Our aim is to keep winning games and see where we are at the end of the season.”<\/p>\n

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\n Image:<\/span>
\n Kieran McKenna presented the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month for December
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McKenna may not be willing to call it a promotion race, just yet. But whatever it is, it’s a very different kind of war than the one they were involved in two years ago.<\/p>\n

In 2023\/24, Ipswich were at the center of a battle between the heavyweight trio of Leicester City, Leeds and Southampton. This time, they were the favourites, but they actually have eight points less than they did in the same division at the time.<\/p>\n

McKenna believes it’s down to a new team that took time to put together.<\/p>\n

“After the summer swing, things couldn’t have been better,” he admits. “We lost seven or eight regular players, including the team captain, vice-captain and team leadership.<\/p>\n

“It took time for everyone to settle, individually and as a team. Players like Cedric Kipres and Azor Matusiwa, who are in their first season in this team, have grown a lot.<\/p>\n

“Even second season players like Jack Clarke and Jaden Philogene are showing their talent and improvement from last season.<\/p>\n

“Overall, there is a lot of improvement for individuals, but we are still focused on improving as a team.<\/p>\n

“I think we have one of the strongest squads in the league. That said, any gaps in talent mean nothing in the Championship.<\/p>\n

“Working hard, working together, thinking, and being united on and off the field is what’s important. It’s a different challenge this year, but the work we do determines whether we succeed, regardless of how strong the team is.”<\/p>\n

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Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player<\/p>\n


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Highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Ipswich Town and Blackburn Rovers<\/span>
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That being said, McKenna still hopes to add to his squad before the January window closes.<\/p>\n

Ipswich have never been shy of mid-season signings in recent years and the club have brought in winter signings in every season they have been in charge at Portman Road.<\/p>\n

“We have good depth numbers with the team, and we’ve been lucky with injuries this year,” he said. “But we are always looking to improve in every transfer window.<\/p>\n

“If we can find players who add quality now or in the future, we will pursue that. If not, we will focus on developing the players we already have. The goal is to be as strong and balanced as possible by the end of January.”<\/p>\n

Watch Ipswich Town vs Bristol City live on Sky Sports+ and the Sky Sports app on Tuesday night; will start at 7.45pm.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A slow start to the season has set back the Championship’s top team, but progress at Ipswich Town has been disappointing in recent weeks. The Tractor Boys find themselves lurking in third place, trailing Middlesbrough by two points with a game in hand. They have won six of the last eight. Kieran McKenna, however, is …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-premier-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3818,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3816\/revisions\/3818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}